The Mindy Project: Debut Ratings

Published: September 26, 2012

Mindy Kaling has moved from The Office to her own FOX sitcom, The Mindy Project. If this TV series isn’t a ratings success and is cancelled, she may want to try to move back for what’s left of the final season.

The Mindy Project follows an OB/GYN who’s both outspoken and a hopeless romantic. She’s successful at her job but can’t seem to find the right guy to share her life with. The rest of the comedy’s cast includes Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Ike Barinholtz, Stephen Tobolowsky, Zoe Jarman, Amanda Setton, and Anna Camp.

Airing opposite NBC’s The New Normal, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS and a rerun of The Next on The CW, the first episode of The Mindy Project attracted a 2.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 4.73 million total viewers.

Compared to Raising Hope’s second season premiere a year earlier, FOX was down by 23% in the demo (vs a 3.1 rating) and down by 30% in viewers (vs 6.73 million).

Mindy was in third place in its timeslot and lost 11% of its New Girl lead-in. On the positive side, it outperformed fellow FOX newbie Ben and Kate at 8:30pm and NBC’s New Normal.

While The Mindy Project isn’t a flop, it’s certainly not a hit either. We’ll have to see how many people return week after week and how well the rest of FOX’s schedule performs to know what kind of chances Mindy has for a second season.

What do you think? Did you watch The Mindy Project? Will you watch again? Do you think the ratings were impacted by the pilot being released online ahead of time?